


all my maps lead to you

by aurcras



Series: live by the sun, love by the moon [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: 5+1, Action, Blutara - Freeform, Canon Compliant, F/M, Identity Reveal, Katara notices things, Romance, Zutara Week, Zutara Week 2020, loosely inspired by miraculous ladybug and i mean very loosely
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:14:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25590406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurcras/pseuds/aurcras
Summary: in which katara gets closer to unraveling the mysterious identity of the blue spirit.or five times zuko (accidentally) drops clues about his hidden identity, and the one time katara confronts him about it.for zutara week 2020 day two; counterpart
Relationships: Blue Spirit/Painted Lady, Katara/Zuko (Avatar), The Blue Spirit & Katara (Avatar)
Series: live by the sun, love by the moon [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1849807
Comments: 9
Kudos: 98
Collections: Zutara Week 2020





	all my maps lead to you

**Author's Note:**

> hello again! i'm posting this a few days behind the actual prompt date (whoops), but it got out of control so here it finally is. i'm splitting it into chapters because it's getting a bit long, and i thought it would be fun. 
> 
> anyway, like i said in the tags, it's loosely inspired by miraculous ladybug and their whole love square/hidden identity situation (i might write an actual mlb au one day but who knows) because i just had to do it with zutara's aliases. the events here all follow canon, and take place from when zuko joins the gaang. but it's set in an au where the blue spirit and the painted lady worked together for a bit in the fire nation, helping out villages here and there, etc. whether or not i'll expand on their backstory someday, i'm not sure. but i hope you'll like this anyway. 
> 
> enough rambling from me though, and on with the fic!

She never would’ve noticed it if Sokka hadn’t pointed it out. 

To be fair, she had spent most of their stay in the Western Air Temple trying to avoid even being in the same room with him (possibly breathing the same air too if that were humanly possible) to really notice much about him. He’d looked much different from the last time she saw him that was for sure, but she hadn’t wanted to dwell too much on it. It was bad enough that she’d had to go along with her friends to accept him, albeit extremely reluctantly, but to also have her mind entertain thoughts about him that were entirely unnecessary? It was totally unfair.

She may have let him somewhat tentatively join the group, but Katara still had her reservations about him. And for good reason.

Unlike the rest of her friends, she had been the one who was last in close contact with the Fire Prince before everything came crashing down in Ba Sing Se. Aang may have been there when everything turned disastrously wrong, but she knew his regrets didn’t lie so much with the Fire Nation siblings but with his own failings in handling the Avatar State. She hadn’t prodded him to ask much about it; she was, after all, caught up with her own regrets in that battle. 

Being imprisoned with him in the catacombs was the last situation she’d ever wanted to be in, but that singular meeting had been so emotionally charged, she just couldn’t think about it without her emotions going out of control. She had seen an emotionally vulnerable side of the Fire Prince, one that deeply clashed with what she knew about him, and it stung to learn that he’d played that side up just to get a sliver of empathy from her. The fact that she had been stupid enough to trust him too? To be the one who had offered to use the only thing that could’ve revived Aang to heal his scar as he spoke of what the scar now meant to him, it was perhaps one of her greatest failings.

She was too kind, too trusting, too fuelled by the need to help everyone who needed her help that she couldn’t stop herself. Katara had cried about many things that night, including the boy with the scar, and she thought she’d finally moved on from that.

But seeing him again only made the dam of regrets crack open, a torrential wave crashing over her and drowning her in a sea of lies and unwanted memories. She couldn’t bear to think of the what-ifs of that night; it was too painful.

And she knew. She knew very well that she had a right to be angry at him. _She_ was the most angry at him because they hadn’t been there. They weren’t the ones to experience what was a giant slap to her face as the boy who she’d just come to trust finally turned his back against them. He was the reason Aang had almost died, and she would never forgive him. Not if it was the last thing she did. 

“I didn’t know you could handle a sword,” Sokka had spoken, in turning breaking her out of her angered musing. She had been roughly throwing everyone’s dirty laundry into a sack with a fury that almost ripped the fabric if it hadn’t been for Sokka’s unintentional interruption. Her grip on the sack loosens. 

Katara can just make out the awe lacing his tone, and her brows dip into a frown. The last thing she wants is for her brother to _admire_ the traitor, not if she can help it. She waits for a moment for her to slip into the conversation, her back still facing the rest of the group. While everyone else had been busy entertaining their new _guest,_ she was busy trying to ensure their little campsite still operated smoothly. It seems helping her out with chores isn’t so high on their list as it is on hers. 

“It’s nothing special,” she hears Zuko answer, a brusque tone in an attempt to brush away Sokka’s remarks. This makes her frown deepen, and seized by a protective drive to defend her brother’s honour, she whirls around, hands on her hips and glare fixated on the resident firebender. 

“What could a firebender like _you_ possibly have use for a sword?” Katara spits viciously. Who did he think he was to look down sword fighting? It’s even deadlier than bending when it wanted to be, and she’d witnessed her brother’s earnest efforts in trying to master the art of the sword. Not to mention, she’d seen up close what skilled sword fighting looked like, and she’s sure even Zuko didn’t hold a grain of salt to Blue.

Her small outburst has the rest of the group looking at her in surprise, possibly even veiled fear. But Katara pays no heed; if no one else is going to treat him like the enemy he is, then she’ll do it for them. Just because he’s now ‘with’ them, doesn’t mean she has to treat him nicely. 

Zuko glances at her, unfazed by her venomous tone, and clutches the broadsword in his hand tighter. The tiny action has her gaze diverting to the sword, and she examines it with veiled surprise. It’s a lot more curved than any of the swords she’d seen Sokka use, and while it isn’t as long, it did seem to be a lot larger, maybe heavier. The blade gradually widened from the hilt, curving into a single edge she knows can cause a lot of damage if handled correctly. In fact, she can almost remember a time where she’s seen a similar blade slice through, attached to the hand of Blue, but that thought fizzles out as quickly as it comes. Katara stomps down on it without a second thought. It’s almost laughable. 

“Actually, firebenders don’t usually handle a sword. It’s considered a sign of weakness to have to rely on the use of weapons,” Zuko explains, her gaze shifting back to him. She watches him glance at his sword, noticing the way Sokka’s brows crease into a frown at the latter statement, and her urge to defend strikes at her again. 

“But why? Wouldn’t knowing how to fight with a sword allow you to defend yourself more in a situation where you couldn’t use your bending?”

She sees a general nod in agreement from her friends listening in, but Zuko’s shoulders slump.

“That’s not what my father thinks,” he mutters softly, so quiet almost no one hears him. But she does, and a stronger wave of disdain for the current Fire Lord washes over her. 

“Well, your father stinks,” Katara blurts before she can really stop herself, and Zuko looks up from his sword to gape at her in shock. Her cheeks start to heat up when she realises what she’d just said, but she wills herself to ignore it. The waterbender lifts her chin up almost defiantly, trying to exude an aura of confidence, and she swears she sees Zuko’s lips curve upward, only slightly, as his shock gives way to mirth.

“Yeah, he does.”

Katara quickly looks away. She doesn’t want to see him soften again; last time it happened, it backfired on her. 

Their conversation is interrupted by Aang, who begins to compliment the broadsword in Zuko’s hand, and she hears Sokka jump in with a mention of Master Piandao. She’s still looking away when she hears Zuko mention his past with the swordmaster, and without even having to look, she can tell Sokka is delighted. 

It annoys her how well they seem to be getting along, a lot friendlier than she wants. But when she turns to peek at Sokka, it has her thinking. Her older brother had been obviously put out by the failed invasion during the Day of the Black Sun, and it had taken a bit of effort to get him back on track again. But watching as he talks animatedly, although a bit guarded, with Zuko about his past with Master Piandao and the sword he’s holding, she can’t help the small twinge of relief that sags her shoulders. 

While she may not have liked the guy, she isn’t blind to see that Zuko had managed to make Sokka perk up a little more. Along with his apparently great sword skills to boot, she can only expect him to ask for a spar sooner or later, which would work well in Sokka’s favour. After all, he has been looking for someone to cross blades with that isn’t a bender, and admittedly no one in their group can manage a sword.

If Blue were here, then he’d be the perfect sparring partner, she thinks rather fleetingly. Too bad she has no clue as to where he could possibly be. Now that they’re no longer in the Fire Nation, the chances of running into him are close to zero. And she never did get to say goodbye to him. 

She sighs wistfully, shaking her head. It’ll do her no good to think of her silent partner, not when she has other, more pressing things to worry about. Katara grips the sack of laundry tightly, moving to make way for the laundry room but not without doing a cursory glance around the area to see if she’s missed any articles of clothing. Seeing none, she takes a brief look at her friends still chatting to Zuko about his swords.

Katara rolls her eyes, shaking her head, and is ready to look away when as fast as she can blink, Zuko somehow summons another identical broadsword. Right before her eyes, he stands proudly with a sword in each hand, doing a quick cross slash in demonstration. 

Her friends clap, and while Sokka whistles at the sight of dual blades, Katara almost trips over the sack she drops.

**Author's Note:**

> also looking for anyone who wants to scream with zutara with me because i need more zutara friends to celebrate zutara week with. hmu at [twitter](https://twitter.com/steambendcr) if you want! <3


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